Teller County health officials clarified Tuesday that a person who died of the novel coronavirus on Monday was a resident of their country and not El Paso County.
Health officials on Monday said in a Facebook post that an El Paso County man in his 80s died of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory illness caused by the virus. On Tuesday, officials said that person was actually from Teller County.
A second Teller County resident tested positive for COVID-19, with health officials sending notifications to anyone that person may have been in contacted with, the local agency said in a a news release.
Of the nine deaths, three have come from neighboring El Paso County. Officials there have sounded the alarm over a bridge tournament earlier this month that has been connected to at least two of those fatalities.
Colorado has 720 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as of Monday afternoon, including 72 people hospitalized. State health officials have said necessary hospital resources are in short supply, with hopes that the federal government provides more in the near future.
As the virus continues to spread, cities such as Denver and Boulder are closing nonessential businesses and ordering people to stay home.
Updated 4 p.m. March 24, 2020 This story originally misreported the Teller County death as Colorado’s 10th coronavirus-related death. It has been corrected.
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